Manufacturing Flaws May Be the Basis for Product Liability Lawsuits

By Michael Verna on September 28, 2017

The Bay Area is a place of innovation, with entrepreneurs based in San Francisco, San Jose, and other cities in the region. As these companies put out their products and services, it's important that they be safe for consumer use, with proper labels and instructions. When these products harm consumers, it's important to file a product liability lawsuit to hold these companies accountable.

A number of injuries may occur because of manufacturing defects that cause products to be unsafe. Let's examine what these kinds of defects involve and how a lawyer can help you and your loved ones following a serious injury caused by a defective product.

What Is a Manufacturing Defect?

A manufacturing defect refers to an unplanned defect with a product that arises when the product is being mass produced or created. Ideally companies should test their products before they're placed on the market to detect inherent or unplanned dangers, yet sometimes these dangerous products enter the market and wind up harming consumers.

Examples of Product Manufacturing Defects

Some examples of manufacturing defects may include the following:

Using incorrect or improper materials (e.g., the wrong type of plastic)

Using incorrect or improper components (e.g., the wrong screws or fasteners)

Problems on the assembly line contaminating parts/components

Incorrect procedures during assembly

Lack of quality assurance and/or testing

Manufacturing defects tend to be relatively rare in product liability cases given the nature of these sorts of product flaws.

How These Manufacturing Defects Can Cause Injuries

Manufacturing defects can impact consumers in many ways.

Say a person is riding their bike down a normal street and the chain comes loose or brakes don't function properly, resulting in a serious injury. Faulty manufacturing of the brakes or the various components of the bike may have contributed to the accident. In children's toys, using the wrong kind of plastic can lead cracks or sharp edges, leading to cutting or piercing hazards.

There are other examples, but ultimately these kinds of problems involve product failure despite normal use.

The Difference Between Manufacturing and Design Defects

The above issues regarding the proper creation of a product sometimes lead people to conflate manufacturing defects with design defects. These are two separate matters, however, and it's important to keep these issues separate.

Design Defects – These are cases in which a product is inherently dangerous or harmful from a design standpoint. Even if manufactured properly, these goods would still potentially harm a consumer.

Manufacturing Defects – The dangers of the product are solely due to the defects in the manufacturing process. If not for those mistakes, the product would have been safe for use.

The nature of the product defect will help determine how your lawyer frames and approaches your defective product case.

Holding Manufacturers and Companies Accountable

If companies cut corners when making products, and if these products wind up harming consumers, it's important that the company be held responsible for these problems occurring. That's when pursuing a product liability lawsuit is ideal. These lawsuits help seek damages for injuries while also ensuring proper safety and production standards are in place. By ensuring proper safety and production controls are there, future injuries like those sustained can be avoided.